1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for separating a food product from a tray, and more particularly separation from a tray having apertures defining a supporting lattice to which the food product is adhered.
2. Description of Related Art
Certain food products tend to adhere to the surfaces supporting them during food processing. As explained in more detail in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,404, separation of the food product from supporting trays is difficult where the food product is in thin strip form, as is the case with the long strips of meat jerky for human or animal consumption.
In preparing jerky, a meat containing mixture is extruded to form thin elongated strips which are arranged on a tray having apertures defining a supporting lattice. The apertures permit air circulation during drying of the product, but the nature of jerky material is such that the strips stick to the ribs or lattice of the tray during drying. The problem is made worse because the strips of meat tend to sag into the apertures as the meat dries.
The long strips of jerky must be separated intact, without breaking, so that they can be cut into predetermined short lengths for packaging. Any broken pieces cannot readily be packaged and must be discarded.
The apparatus of my U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,404 provided reasonably satisfactory separation of the strips of meat jerky from the tray lattice. However, the apparatus involved a two step procedure to effect separation, and a significant number of long strips were still broken into commercially unusable short pieces. In that apparatus a pair of conveyor belts were arranged in spaced apart end-to-end relation to define a gap across which the food product tray was carried. Preliminary separation of the jerky strips lying on top of the tray lattice was accomplished by one or more separating rollers located below the tray. Radially directed fingers of the tray were arranged to project upwardly through the tray apertures and into engagement with the food product. At least two backup rollers were located above the tray opposite each separating roller. These engaged both the food product and the tray, allowing the food product between the rollers to be moved up from the tray by the roller fingers, but keeping the tray from also moving upwardly.
Some portions of the jerky strips still stuck to the tray at various points along their lengths. Final separation was achieved by transferring the trays onto a third conveyor belt disposed at right angles to the first pair of conveyors. In making the transfer, each tray was inverted so that the already loosened jerky strips hung down in loose loops. A stripper plate above the third belt was arranged to lie within the space between the tray and the sagging strips as they moved along the belt. The partically separated strips were then pulled away from the tray by the plate and transported to a collection station. Some of the strips still adhered sufficiently tenaciously that this pulling action resulted in their breakage.